Senior Government officials warned that a €75 million scheme to take shared equity in houses bought by new home buyers would increase the price of houses without helping supply. One of the State’s most senior officials warned that the building industry was lobbying for a scheme “because it would increase prices”. But documents released under the Freedom of Information Act to Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin and seen by The Irish Times show that senior officials repeatedly advised against the scheme. On Wednesday Mr Ó Broin said: “Shared equity loans do not make homes more affordable. The property industry want an equity scheme because it will increase prices.”

Source: The Irish Times January 07, 2021 03:33 UTC